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Faiths of the Old World
Faiths of the Old World The Pantheon of Uton The Pantheon of Uton is the oldest current religion in the world, and is popular throughout most of eastern Revula and western Edite. Over the millenia of its existence, it has adopted gods and traditions from other pagan faiths, and technically the list of deities honored in the Pantheon extends to over three hundred. Most of these gods, however, are lumped into general groups--agricultural deities, war deities, magical deities, and so on--and typically only the most locally popular god of that group is worshipped directly. The only true constants in the faith are Uton, the Father of Creation, and Uta, the Mother of the World, who are considered the supreme deities of the Pantheon and utterly superior to any of the others. Being so widespread, the pantheon is worshipped very differently in different areas, and often even by different priests in the same region. It is largely an informal and pragmatic faith; prayers and rituals that work to bless the crops or bring good fortune in one land might not work in another, so why bother creating a formal set of rules for everyone to follow? Though not nearly as popular in Corunda as the Ohnism or even Awaldiri, followers of Uton can be found in almost every settlement on the continent. Permanent temples are rare, as priests typically wander from community to community, tending to their followers, conducting rituals, and often taking up arms in defense of others. The Church of Ohn The Church of Ohn was the largest and most powerful faith of the Old World, and remains by far the most influential in the colonies. Based on the teachings of an itinerant and astoundingly powerful holy man named Ohn, who is believed to be the incarnated version of a supreme creator deity who walked among mortals to spread wisdom and salvation, the Church has recently seen a serious splintering of its faithful. A cleric named Jacob sparked a revolution by publically shaming the Church for practices he saw as corrupt and hypocritical. Though excommunicated as a heretic, Jacob's passionate speeches and, thanks to his noble birth, access to society's upper echelons saw his ideas spread rapidly through the Old World. Soon there were dozens of smaller denominations within the Church, some officially recognized and some officially condemned, and many of those branches found their way to Corunda. While individual congregations may vary in the specifics, in general, Ohnish faithful believe in charity, humility, fellowship, and self-sacrifice. Their temples range from humble shelters of wood and thatch to great stone edifices soaring into the heavens. Believers are expected to tithe at least 10% of their income to the Church in order to pay for temple upkeep and to provide a salary to the resident priests and monks, who often serve their community as spiritual advisors and local leaders. The Teachings of the Prophet Awaldi The Prophet Awaldi was born several hundred years after Ohn, and bears many similarities to him. Both were divine spellcasters of unusual power, though Awaldi was also known as as a great warrior, a noble hero, and a dedicated scholar. Awaldi claimed to have received his powers from the deity Ohn was said to be an avatar of, but insisted that Ohn was not that entity made flesh, but merely a mortal vessel chosen to bear the Almighty's word. He based this both on knowledge allegedly gifted him from his god, and on a cache of secret writings he claimed had been written by Ohn himself. Awaldi's teachings made him incredibly unpopular among the devout of Revula, but he found greater acceptance among the people of northern Kothys. After years of preaching his truth and encouraging his followers to adopt a philosophy of moderation, learning, and aiding others, Awaldi was chased down and cornered by the army of a local nobleman whom he had chastised for his gluttony and perversion. Awaldi sent his followers to safety and met the army alone. There was said to be a great, blinding light, and then Awaldi was gone, the nobleman had been burned to ash, and every one of the soldiers had been transformed into bawling infants. Followers of the Teachings are far less numerous in Corunda than those of the Church of Ohn, though the faith is quite popular among the colonists of the Celine Islands. A large temple in St. Barbox is the primary home of the religion in Colonial Estril, though enclaves of the Awaldin faithful can be found in New Harbor, Aveline, and Verdane as well. Priests of the Teachings serve as councilors, scholars, and advisors, but all are also trained in the use of weapons and armor so as to protect their communities from outside threats. The One Faith Other Faiths and Philosophies =